BOISROBERT, François Le Métel de - Histoire indienne d'Anaxa - Lot 375

BOISROBERT, François Le Métel de - Histoire indienne d'Anaxandre et d'Orazie, où sont entremeslées les avantures d'Alcidaris, de Cambaye et les amours de Pyroxène. Paris , François Pomeray, 1629. In-8, (16) ff. including engraved title, 760 pp, small angular loss to title without loss of text, front endpaper slightly rubbed, contemporary limp vellum, traces of cords, spine slightly scraped. CANIVET n°35. LEVER 211. Frontispiece engraved by Abraham Bosse. First edition dedicated to Marie de Fourcy, Marquise d'Effiat, whose beauty he highly praises. ''Preceded by an Epître de Balzac (7) pp. and an Advis au lecteur where Boisrobert claims the right to entertain rather than instruct. We have read with interest this little novel, very well conducted, full of vivacity and humor. Not once did it bore us. There are many familiar episodes: princes disguised under false names, who signal their birth by the brilliance of their deeds, conquests, battles, carousels, etc. There are also juicy stories. The princesses take on a deliberate tone, to which, later, the Gombervilles and Scudérys will add a regrettable attenuation. (Magne, Le plaisant abbé de Boisrobert, p. 112).